The Iron Cross (German: Eisernes Kreuz (help·info)), sometimes mistakenly calle the Maltese cross, is a military decoration of the Kingdom of Prussia, and later of Germany, which was established by King Frederick William III of Prussia and first awarded on 10 March 1813 in Breslau (now Wrocław). In addition to the Napoleonic Wars, the Iron Cross was awarded during the Franco-Prussian War, the First World War, and the Second World War.